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Merrimack '23-'24: Greater Expectations

R

RENCEB

Well-known member
An unexpectedly strong performance last year (2nd place in the regular season, took BU to OT in the Hockey East championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament) means that more is expected this year (picked 3rd in the pre-season coaches poll for what that's worth).
'Mack returns both goalies who form (my opinion) the best tandem in the league. Borgiel and Ollas each had terrific seasons last year. Defense should be strong with Mike Brown, Christian Felton, and Zach Bookman as the leaders.
At forward, Alex Jeffries is back for his 4th season. He was 2nd in scoring in HE last year, and has gotten better each year during his time in North Andover. Matt Copponi had a breakout year last year, and Chase Stevenson (transfer from UNH where he was a Captain) should be a great addition.
This is Scott Borek's 6th season at the helm. Here's hoping he can build on the positives from last year.
 
So, getting swept at ASU was a less than ideal way to start the season. 1st game (loss 1-0 in OT) was a slog and Warriors were constantly on the penalty kill. 9 penalties including a major and game misconduct on Copponi. Jefferies is out with a "lower body injury" and his absence was really obvious in the lack of offense.
Game 2 was frustrating. Got the 1st goal, and gave it back about a minute later. Went up 2-1 until midway through the 3rd when Tyler Young took a mindless "Contact to the Head" major and ASU scored on the resulting 5 minute powerplay. Tied 2-2, MC took a 2 minute minor for "Too Many Men On the Ice" with just more than a minute to go. ASU scored about 20 seconds into the PP and added an empty netter for the 4-2 final. Just a brutal, self inflicted loss for the Warriors.
Here's hoping that Jeffries and Mike Brown are back in the lineup quickly.
 
I hope the Merrimack wins all their remaining games.......... unless of course they face ASU again...... Were you able to watch the game on ASU livestream, without having the PAC 12 network subscription?
 
Sol Diablo said:
I hope the Merrimack wins all their remaining games.......... unless of course they face ASU again...... Were you able to watch the game on ASU livestream, without having the PAC 12 network subscription?
Click to expand...

I was. ASU livestream was very good, and I thought the announcers were terrific.
Impressed by the Sun Devils. Semptimphelter was solid in net (although Merrimack didn't exactly have a ton of grade A chances). I thought Kopperud was very good, and Lovell (MA guy) had a strong game.
Good luck to you guys the rest of the season.
 
RENCEB said:
I was. ASU livestream was very good, and I thought the announcers were terrific.
Impressed by the Sun Devils. Semptimphelter was solid in net (although Merrimack didn't exactly have a ton of grade A chances). I thought Kopperud was very good, and Lovell (MA guy) had a strong game.
Good luck to you guys the rest of the season.
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Thanks, good to know as I have the PAC12 network subscription so I wasn't sure. I can let others know then if their team is playing there.
 
Good weekend for the Warriors with wins over ECAC foes Clarkson (4-1) and St. Lawrence (5-2). Penalty kill remains excellent as they killed off all 11 opposing powerplay opportunities. They're now at 92% on the PK.
Matt Copponi submitted an early entry for goal of the year with a rink length rush, deking 3 Clarkson defenders at their blueline and roofing a backhander. They play was highlighted on ESPN'S Sports Center as the #2 play of Saturday's Top 10.
Merrimack begins league play Saturday 10/28 at Matthews Arena against Northeastern.
 
Great to get the win over NU in Merrimack's Hockey East opener, and nice to face the Huskies without Devon Levi between the pipes. Levi (with Aiden McDonough providing the offense) dealt the Warriors some particularly painful losses over the past few years (including a 1-0 loss when McDonough scored with 8 seconds left).
MC kept the penalties down, and Borgiel was again rock solid in net. I know that Ollas is also very good, but I'm getting the sense that Borgiel might be the true #1.
2 game set next weekend at Lawler against the much improved Maine Black Bears.
 
Tip 'o the cap to the Black Bears. They made the plays all weekend and came away with the sweep. Expected much more from the Warriors coming out of the gate to night, but giving up a goal just 37 seconds in meant they were playing behind almost from the drop of the puck. Based on the comments from the Maine fans, seems like Merrimack was really sloppy all night on defense. Dug too deep a whole and couldn't crawl all the way out.
Good to see Jefferies back in action and on the scoreboard.
 
RENCEB said:
Tip 'o the cap to the Black Bears. They made the plays all weekend and came away with the sweep. Expected much more from the Warriors coming out of the gate to night, but giving up a goal just 37 seconds in meant they were playing behind almost from the drop of the puck. Based on the comments from the Maine fans, seems like Merrimack was really sloppy all night on defense. Dug too deep a whole and couldn't crawl all the way out.
Good to see Jefferies back in action and on the scoreboard.
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We were on the other end of these types of games the last few years and Merrimack looked to be sleep walking until the third period then BOOM. I really like your team. It was a good series and wish you guys luck the rest of the way much respect.
 
5 point nights for Jefferies (3g 2a) and Bookman (1g 4a). Appears that Jefferies has shaken off any early season rust. 0 penalty minutes for Merrimack? This is not the "Merrihack" team of years past.
The only Friday night Hockey East game for which there are no highlights on the Hockey East website. What's up with that UConn?
Back at it tonight at the freshly renovated Lawler ;-). Likely Borgiel in net. Hope he finds his game as his last outing against Maine was shaky. Let's get the sweep.
 
1 step forward, 1 step back. 3 losses in Hockey East, all at home, all by 1 goal. These were the games they were winning last year. Defense is struggling mightily. Missing 2 of your best defensemen (Brown and Zivlak) but they need to figure it out. Injuries have been a problem all season.
Not saying Wednesday night's game against UML is a must win, but they better start winning home games or they'll soon be looking up at a lot of teams in the standings.
 
Would have loved to see them win in regulation, but a shootout win is better than a sharp stick in the eye. Both Borgiel and Welsch were outstanding. Merrimack had a number of odd man rushes, but couldn't finish. Greasy goal for UML. UML is very hard to play against, but not a lot of offensive skill.
When MC took a penalty for Too Many Men, I thought it had disaster potential, but I mentioned to my buddy that maybe they could spring Citera free from the box. Just what happened as Welsch made the tough save on Copponi's shot, but Citera was there to bury the rebound.
As he kids say, filthy move by Citera in the shootout to sneak one past Welsch, and Borgiel stood tall on all 3 UML attempts. Ballgame.
Expect another low scoring affair at the Tsongas on Saturday night.
 
Sigh, it's deja vu. Another 1 goal loss. It's feeling more and more that last year was a pleasant anomaly. Looks like they didn't even show up tonight. Outshot 32-10 from the 2nd period through OT against a team that is really offensively challenged. Goaltending has generally been solid, but unless Jefferies and/or Copponi have a big game, the offense is non-existent. Brar, Welsher and Forsmark all came back for a graduate year, and have been invisible. Brar with 1 goal through 11 games. They miss UNH transfer Chase Stevenson who's been out injured. Freshman class is contributing nothing. A disappointing season so far.
 
Well a positive weekend for he Warriors winning the inaugural "Turkey Leg Classic" (I wonder what that trophy looks like!). Fell behind Army on Friday afternoon, then came back to score 5 in the 2nd period, and 7 for the game. Fell behind Bentley 3-1, then scored 3 straight for the win. Nice to see freshman Ty Daneault get his first 3 goals of the season (2 against Army). Here's hoping that opens the scoring floodgates for him.
Big challenge taking on BU next weekend with a home and home series. Goaltending will need to be strong as the Terriers are loaded with high end offensive players. Would be great to get Chase Stevenson back, but not sure when that's going to happen.
 
RENCEB said:
Well a positive weekend for he Warriors winning the inaugural "Turkey Leg Classic" (I wonder what that trophy looks like!). Fell behind Army on Friday afternoon, then came back to score 5 in the 2nd period, and 7 for the game. Fell behind Bentley 3-1, then scored 3 straight for the win. Nice to see freshman Ty Daneault get his first 3 goals of the season (2 against Army). Here's hoping that opens the scoring floodgates for him.
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Actually, the first Turkey Leg Classic was played back in 2019 which Lowell won. RPI and Penn State were the other teams involved. The tournament was put on hold due to covid and last season Lowell played in the Friendship Four. Merrimack is heading to Belfast next season so I assume the tournament will take another break.

UMass Lowell captures Turkey Leg title in OT – Lowell Sun
 
boblav1 said:
Actually, the first Turkey Leg Classic was played back in 2019 which Lowell won. RPI and Penn State were the other teams involved. The tournament was put on hold due to covid and last season Lowell played in the Friendship Four. Merrimack is heading to Belfast next season so I assume the tournament will take another break.

UMass Lowell captures Turkey Leg title in OT – Lowell Sun
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Thanks boblav1. You certainly know your Lowell hockey history! The only other "in-season" tournament that I can remember that involved both Merrimack and Lowell was the short lived "Teapot Tournament" back when both teams were DII.
 
As the resident Merrimack fan here, I'm embarrassed. I thought that the team I root for was better than this. 3 Majors, 2 Misconducts and 2 Game Misconducts. 13 penalties for 67 minutes. That's disgusting. Merri-hack rears it's ugly head.
Scott Borek, control your team.
 
BU sweep as expected. Let's face facts: BU is far and away the better team ("thank you Capt. Obvious"). If I counted correctly, 13 draft picks and the best rookie in college hockey in Macklin Celebrini. But boy, did Merrimack kill themselves with self inflicted wounds. Giving up a goal 0:23 seconds in, really weak backcheck effort by the Merrimack player on Quinn Hutson. Nice effort to get the lead with Freshman Bono getting his second goal on the weekend and Jefferies on the 5X3, and Borgeil was playing well. But horrible turnovers leading to 2 unassisted BU goals including a shorthanded effort by Zabaneh. Got absolutory crushed at the face off dot, winning less than 33%. Brutal. Having Copponi suspended for the game certainly didn't help. Alex Jefferies is MUCH better on the wing than at center (he was particularly putrid on faceoffs).
Unfortunately, it's been a slow slide towards the bottom of the standings. Here's hoping that a couple of non-league games against winnable (hopefully?) opponents can help them get their house in order. Getting Brown, Stevenson and Zivlak back from injuries in the second half will help.
 
RENCEB said:
BU sweep as expected. Let's face facts: BU is far and away the better team ("thank you Capt. Obvious"). If I counted correctly, 13 draft picks and the best rookie in college hockey in Macklin Celebrini. But boy, did Merrimack kill themselves with self inflicted wounds. Giving up a goal 0:23 seconds in, really weak backcheck effort by the Merrimack player on Quinn Hutson. Nice effort to get the lead with Freshman Bono getting his second goal on the weekend and Jefferies on the 5X3, and Borgeil was playing well. But horrible turnovers leading to 2 unassisted BU goals including a shorthanded effort by Zabaneh. Got absolutory crushed at the face off dot, winning less than 33%. Brutal. Having Copponi suspended for the game certainly didn't help. Alex Jefferies is MUCH better on the wing than at center (he was particularly putrid on faceoffs).
Unfortunately, it's been a slow slide towards the bottom of the standings. Here's hoping that a couple of non-league games against winnable (hopefully?) opponents can help them get their house in order. Getting Brown, Stevenson and Zivlak back from injuries in the second half will help.
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What happened with Stevenson? He was doing pretty well before he was injured..looking forward to seeing him play when we see you guys 2nd half..
 
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